Life Is Beautiful
by Lily Anna Evans Potter
Summary: Taylor Ambrose shared the joy of prom with his baby sister the night he died. Haley was his princess long before Kate and in the aftermath of his death the little girl bonds with the Fitzgerald sisters.
1. The Princess And The Frog

**The Princess And The Frog**

The single most common misconception about parents with very sick children was probably that they worried too much. The television screen glowed in the darkness of the living room, where Jenna Ambrose was waiting up for her son to come home. It was nearing midnight and the annual Providence Hospital prom night must have been drawing to a close, she knew. The previous year Taylor had gone alone and bailed within hours, this year he had a date. In the pin-drop silence of the late hour, her alert hearing picked up the whirring of the apartment block's elevator through the thin walls. Jenna hopefully flicked on the lights and waited expectantly. Sure enough, the red front door gave its trademark creak minutes later and her precious sixteen year old walked in, quiet but grinning. Most of the action before prom had taken place at his girlfriend's house, so for a moment Jenna just stared. She had been married twice; having lost Taylor's father in a car accident many years ago, her first-born's illness became overwhelming on her own. Standing before him in a suspiciously rumpled suit, Taylor looked just like her first love.

"Looking good baby," she praised softly as he shrugged off the blazer. "I hope Kate's mother took lots of pictures."

"Absolutely," he confirmed with a good-natured eye-roll. "It's kind of a miracle we got to the dance at all; her Mom and sister practically made a photo shoot out of it."

Jenna laughed off the comment, not allowing herself to dampen his spirits. The truth was she knew exactly why Sara Fitzgerald had photographed every possible second of this night; with kids like Kate and Taylor you never knew which experience could be their last. She'd often heard it said that pale grey eyes like Taylor's looked cold and unforgiving but to her they were almost glowing in that moment. Maybe it was just out of necessity because of his illness, but Jenna was grateful every day that Taylor had never distanced himself from her, as boys his age tended to do. He bent over her shoulder with a warm hug and Jenna made that her moment to remember, breathing in his scent with her emotions swelling to the surface.

"So you had a good time then?" she asked thickly, surreptitiously trying to wipe her eyes as she led him by the hand into the bright living room, unwilling to let go.

"The best," he beamed. "She looked so beautiful Mom; just wait till you see the pictures!" Jenna barely heard the enamored raving about every detail of Kate's dress, holding Taylor's hand close to her heart, it was enough for her that this was the happiest she had ever seen her son. It struck her that his pulse seemed to be racing unnaturally, but before Jenna could switch to concerned parent mode there was a commotion on the landing above them. Nothing more than a pair of peeking hazel eyes through the gap in the winding steps at first, soon enough seven year old Haley bounced down the stairs. "Taylor, you're home!" she squealed, charging into his lap so fast the armchair creaked under their weight.

"And you're supposed to be asleep missy," Jenna pointed out, tweaking the girl's nose. Haley had inherited her dark hair and pale skin, fathered by her second husband who decided after she was already expecting that he couldn't handle Taylor's illness. He had taken off, leaving the three of them a tight family unit, taking life one day at a time.

"Boo!" Haley protested; "I want a story!"

She twisted around in Taylor's lap, blasting him with irresistible cuteness. "Please?" she added on sweetly.

"You're good Hales," he grinned. "What do you want to know?"

"Every detail!" Haley demanded, nuzzling against him. "Did Kate look like a princess? Did you like…kiss?"

Jenna couldn't help but smile at her daughter's innocence; she was definitely at the age of fairytale ideals. "Absolute princess," Taylor nodded. "And princesses always get kissed."

Haley frowned thoughtfully for a moment; "Were you a frog before tonight then?"

And just like that, another moment for Jenna to engrave in her memory was born; the rare sound of Taylor's genuine laughter. The confused look on Haley's face was admittedly priceless. "Good one sissy," he gasped; "maybe I was." He shifted her weight on his knees and propped his head affectionately against her shoulder, staring into the distance. Intuition told Jenna things were about to get serious and she reluctantly wandered off to give them a moment alone.

"Haley, will you remember one thing for me?" Taylor started solemnly. His hands closed around her smaller ones and squeezed, the force making Haley nod with childish enthusiasm.

"Okay, I'm really good at remembering stuff," she said proudly.

Taylor smiled; "Yes you are," he agreed. "I want you to remember that life is beautiful, no matter what happens. Enjoy every minute of it and remember that you were my princess first, okay?"

Haley twisted again and looped her arms around his neck; "Totally not a frog," she giggled.

"You're my best friend, you know that right?" he said seriously. "Love you squirt."

"Dance with me!" the little girl squealed suddenly, "I wanna be your princess now!"

"Well I can't refuse your highness, can I?" Taylor winked. He stood up as their mother re-emerged from the kitchen and switched on the radio quietly. The opening strains of Life Is Beautiful filled the room, eerily perfect for the joyous moment.

Jenna fetched her camera and joined her kids just as the music peaked. Taylor held onto both Haley's hands, allowing the girl half his size to balance on his feet as they moved together. She twirled a few times, always landing safely right up close to him. By the time the song ended she was yawning, despite a fixed grin.

"Back to bed I think," Jenna cut in, suppressing a slight frown when Taylor lifted his little sister up. "Are you sure you can handle that, kid?"

In response, Haley sleepily seemed to cling harder and Taylor nodded; "Stop worrying so much, she's pretty light." Haley fisted her hands behind his back and they started up the stairs, reaching the top with no trouble. He gently deposited her in her own bed, where she grabbed his hand as soon as he put her down. "Love you too," she murmured; "for earlier, when you said it." This was followed by a moment of silence and Taylor was just beginning to think she had abruptly crashed, when she added; "I hope my Prince Charming is as cool as you one day!"

Taylor beamed, even though she had already closed her eyes. "He won't be, he'll be better," he promised. "Goodnight Hales," he pressed a kiss to her forehead and left the room, missing the little girl's whisper that no one better existed.

On the landing, Jenna was hovering in wait, anxiety taking over with Haley out of earshot. As soon as her daughter's bedroom door clicked shut she approached Taylor firmly. "Honey, are you sure you're feeling okay? I try not to over-react to things but you feel kind of warm to me. Would you just take your temperature, for me?"

"No need," he said confidently, pulling her into his arms. "You worry too much Mom, get some sleep!"

Jenna sighed and let her forehead graze his shoulder; maybe concern was just a force of habit for mothers like her. "You have your father's calm attitude," she said affectionately. "I wish I didn't have a reason to worry."

Taylor's embrace tightened around her, the reminder that their lives were never average darkening the mood; "I know," he said softly. "I love you for it, but right now I'm fine, I promise!"

With that he released her and Jenna felt instantly cold, something was definitely not right. "Night baby," she murmured and he went off to his own room. Sleep claimed the household, unsuspecting that within hours their lives would change forever.

**A / N: My first MSK story! It's one of my favorite books AND movies, so I wanted to try and explore it from an unseen angle. Next chapter will be the death; I didn't want to spoil a sweet moment with a tragedy ending for now. Stay tuned, thanks for reading! xx**


	2. When The Lights Die

**When The Lights Die**

If her situation hadn't been so pressing, Jenna Ambrose would have wondered, not for the first time, how Laura Fields was her friend. Her fingers shook as she jabbed her neighbor's doorbell, the distant clang echoing loudly in the 5 a.m silence. She tried not to look down at Haley's expression of mingled confusion and fear as they waited. The door to their apartment opposite was ajar. Beyond it they could both hear the paramedics going about their business, time was short. Jenna's hands clamped down on Haley's shoulders, both to prevent them from trembling and stop the questions she could see forming on her daughter's innocent face. Finally the shuffling of bedroom slippers could be heard beyond the door and Laura came into view. She looked deserving of her nickname of Barbie with the fluffy pink dressing gown and currently messy blonde curls.

Jenna swallowed nervously while her friend blinked groggily, looking stunned; "What's going on, Jen?"

Haley turned shyly in her arms, hiding her face while her mother explained the situation. "I'm really sorry about this Laura, but would you mind watching Haley for me? Taylor's very sick; I have to go down to the hospital!"

Her words tripped over one another in the hasty request and Laura's gaze softened. She opened her arms and Jenna gave Haley a little nudge, blinking to prevent herself bursting into tears in front of her daughter. "Do what you gotta do honey, I hope it's not too serious! She'll be safe right here," she said comfortingly.

"Mommy," Haley moaned, reaching out for her mother with a quivering lip.

One of the young paramedics popped his head around her front door at that moment; "Mrs. Ambrose, we need to go!"

"I'm sorry baby," Jenna dropped a kiss on her daughter's head. "I'll be back for you as soon as I can, promise!" Then she nodded to the paramedic and sprinted down the two flights of stairs to the entrance, the siren from the ambulance ringing in her ears even from this distance.

The vehicle charged through the mercifully light traffic, a blessing of the early hour. Shaky as ever, Jenna tried to make herself useful bathing Taylor's forehead with a damp cloth. Whenever her skin even accidentally grazed in contact with his, she would have to suppress a flinch. The heat of a terrifying fever radiated off him, leaving her with no distraction from the words he had woken her with so recently. A choked phrase, simply; "You were right." Jenna was sure it would haunt her for life, as she watched the doctors attach various IV's the second they pulled into the emergency room. She watched the icy fluids and medication drip into his system, each pearl of liquid feeling like her only hope. Taylor's eyes, so noticeably bright with joy and love just hours ago, were now glazed over with the raging infection. His body temperature felt scorching against her palms but Jenna refused to let go. A teardrop slid around the oxygen mask fixed to his face, his every breath rattling heavily behind it.

Jenna caught the tear in the palm of her hand, shuddering at how hot even it was. "It's okay, you're fine," she chanted, not sure if she was trying to convince herself or Taylor.

"Hurts," he groaned, his hand in hers gradually having the effect of a hot stove. "Can't…breathe."

"I love you kiddo," Jenna choked, finding it almost as difficult to draw breath as he was.

"Tell Kate," he wheezed, almost blistering her skin with a final burning grip. As if that wasn't enough to land Jenna's heart in her mouth, it coincided with the beeping of every machine he was hooked up to and one of the nurses pulled her back as the doctors charged in with electric paddles. Jenna pressed her head against the nurse's shoulder; a short, plump African-American she knew was named Alice. Even so she couldn't block out the doctor's murmurs, with the clear words "cardiac arrest" and "time of death" reaching her ears sounding like a foreign language. A strangled scream bubbled up inside her, transforming into tears before it could escape her mouth. Jenna pulled roughly away from the gentle nurse, only vaguely aware of a voice asking if Dr. Chance was on duty. The doctors who had pronounced Taylor dead filtered out of the room, as if they hadn't just brought her whole world to a crashing halt.

Jenna paced back towards the bed in a daze, reaching it seconds before her knees buckled and she dropped to the ground. The infection was keeping Taylor's body at that disturbing, deadly temperature even now his heart was no longer beating. She pressed her face to the spot on his chest where there was until so recently a steady heartbeat and tried to inhale his familiar scent. Only when this proved impossible through the unbearable heat against her face did the horrified sobs break out, broken and uncontrollable. Clinging to the folds of Taylor's sweat-soaked pajama top, she missed the telling sound of the room's sliding door opening. It was as if she couldn't focus on anything but the devastating absence of her son's breathing, the silence was a cocoon of hell for her senses. "Jenna," a calm voice startled her from behind, a firm hand clapped on her shoulder.

Without bothering to wipe her eyes, a reluctant glance revealed the tall figure of Henry Chance, a concerned frown adding to his weary appearance. Head of oncology, he had the most favorable reputation at the hospital, always going beyond the call of duty. His eyes were sympathetic behind the rectangular glasses and still Jenna only managed to utter one word; "How?"

He pulled her to her feet in solemn silence, no comment of course. "It was just a fever," she murmured, "How is this real?"

His gaze drifted to the body, the shell of her darling first-born. "We'll find out exactly what caused this," he promised gravely. "I'm very sorry, truly."

Jenna stared with him, unable to prevent the fresh prickling of tears held back; "Sorry can't turn back the clock," she sighed. "The best night of his life just became my worst, nothing can change that!" She touched Taylor's limp hand again, to find the heat of the fever finally fading. "He was dating Kate Fitzgerald," she said quietly. "Literally his last words, 'tell Kate'. I'm going to fail a dying wish on top of losing my baby now. I can't do this, Henry!"

"One step at a time," he soothed. "She'll be in for another stem cell transplant in a couple of days; we can take care of that if you like." Jenna nodded mutely, overwhelmed once more by the pressing silence. Exhaustion refused to allow her brain to process the agony and she knew that this was just the beginning of a very different life.

**A / N Enjoy everyone, seriously emotionally drained after this!**

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	3. Shattered Calm

**Shattered Calm**

Laura Fields had once been a statistic, a pregnant teenager lucky enough to have the support she needed to keep her daughter. The same daughter who was now seventeen and eerily like Laura herself had been at that age, a pretty and intelligent cheerleader at her high school. Two hours after Jenna Ambrose desperately left her sweet seven year old in Laura's care, the blonde still hadn't returned to bed. It had taken a long time to calm down the scared girl, since Laura knew nothing more about the situation than what Jenna had hurriedly told her: Taylor was very sick.

When Haley finally fell asleep around 7 a.m, curled up in Laura's lap, she didn't have the heart to move. Listening absently to the steadily ticking clock on the wall, she thought about the past and how Jenna Ambrose had lent her the wisdom of experience for the first year of her daughter's life. Even though Jenna only became a mother herself when Cassandra was a year old, she had been endlessly supportive of the overwhelmed teen Laura was in the beginning. Their friendship was an unlikely one, but through the early kindness and Taylor's diagnosis at the age of six, it stuck. Suddenly Laura's cell phone, lying on the coffee table in front of her, began to vibrate violently. Carefully she leaned forward and grabbed it, even as Haley stirred slightly in her sleep.

"Hello?" she answered softly.

"Laura," that was Jenna's voice, choked and broken, not good. Laura had her suspicions what the news would be but that didn't make it any less painful when her friend said; "He's gone…my baby is dead!"

"Oh God Jen," Laura said, the sobs at the other end of the line robbing her of words. "Honey, I'm so sorry!" She paused, her fingers curled tightly around the phone as she tried to compose herself. "I managed to get Haley to go back to sleep," she informed, feeling lame in the scheme of things. "It's still very early, want me to bring her down to the hospital when visiting hours start?" she offered sadly.

"Please," Jenna sighed, Laura had never heard anyone sound so drained before. "I owe you one."

"No you don't," Laura replied firmly; "She's a good kid. Just try and get some rest okay? We'll see you in a few hours, love you."

"Thank you," Jenna said softly, her short answers were conveying everything right now, pain and gratitude rolled into one. Then the line went dead and Laura hung up with a new dilemma on her hands: How on earth would she tell Cassie the bad news?

Conflicted, Laura just sat biting her lip for a moment with Haley's gentle breathing sounding in her ears. She owed it to Jenna to keep Haley calm and that meant not moving, there was only one thing to do. Frowning, she dialed her husband's cell and prayed for an answer. He was starting a new job at the fire station the next day, complete with routine long nights, so she regretted disrupting the last day of peace. Except peace, it turned out, was relative of course. It seemed like an eternity until she heard Nick's groggy voice; it was instantly calming to her frayed emotions. "Laurie, what the hell?"

"Get downstairs and you'll see," she hissed, even so Haley clenched her fists and curled closer to Laura's chest. "I'm sorry, but it's an emergency!" With that she dropped the phone again and leaned back, trembling.

In minutes she heard Nick's slippers making a racket on the carpeted staircase and looked up, relieved and worried Haley would stir at the same time. "Quietly," she warned and watched him come to an astonished halt at the foot of the stairs. Even straight out of bed, it always hit her how dashing her man was. The greeting smile unfortunately didn't last when he spotted Haley cuddled against his wife's chest. "What's going on here?"

"Pass me that cushion," Laura requested quietly by way of answer, pointing at the adjoining couch. Nick did so and she carefully slid it under Haley's head and paced towards him. "In the kitchen," she murmured and dragged him down the hall so they wouldn't disturb the little girl. She clicked the kitchen door shut and drew the increasingly confused Nick into a desperate hug.

"What happened, babe?" he prompted, rubbing her back soothingly. "What's Haley doing here?"

"Jenna dropped her off a few hours ago," she said. "Taylor got sick suddenly and she needed to go down to the hospital." She blinked up at him, the swell of tears below the surface making her throat ache. "Is…is Cassie still asleep?" she asked, the words sticking in her throat.

"Of course she is," Nick nodded, "it's Sunday after all." He hugged her a little closer to him, bless that sixth sense he always boasted about. "Is Taylor okay?"

Laura could only shake her head by this point; "Dead," she choked, Cassie's inevitable reaction was haunting her already. "Jenna just called…he's gone! How on earth are we going to break this to Cassie?"

Nick froze at the words; he didn't have an answer for that. "Holy shit," he swore and Laura sighed and pressed closer to him. There was no right way to respond to this tragedy, all anyone could do was to try and cope. Nick ran his fingers through his defiantly messy blonde hair and gave Laura a squeeze; "Poor Jenna," he said sympathetically. "Are you taking Haley down to the hospital later?"

"Yeah, least I could offer," Laura replied. "Poor baby."

He pressed a kiss to her forehead; "I fall more in love with you every day Laura Fields, you know that?"

Laura very nearly smiled as the tragedy of the day still left room for her to feel like the luckiest woman alive. Not many other teenagers who had lived through the situation she had ended up with such blessed lives. People often looked at her and Nick like an ultimate cliché but the fact remained that she adored him and literally always had. "You flatter me," she smirked. Just then there was a commotion down the hall and the kitchen door cracked open.

"Are you two done being mushy?" Cassie muttered, rolling her eyes at the pair of them. Laura felt her heart sink; her daughter had Haley right behind her. The younger girl's lip was quivering again and Cassie stared at her as she helped herself to some cereal for breakfast. "What's she doing here, Mom?"

Laura exchanged a desperate glance with her husband and he thankfully took the hint. "Want to watch some TV over breakfast, Cass? Sunday treat!" Good thing they were normally strict about that kind of thing, the prospect distracted Cassandra for the moment. Laura mouthed her thanks as Nick led their daughter out of the room and turned her attention to Haley at last.

"Are you hungry, sweetheart?" she asked gently. Haley nodded absently but grabbed Laura's hand when the woman turned to get her a cereal bowl.

"I want my Mommy," she moaned pitifully.

Laura knelt down carefully and drew the small girl into a hug. "I know Haley, I'll take you to see her soon, I promise!"

"She promised she'd come back," Haley murmured against Laura's shoulder and she could feel the girl's tiny frame suddenly trembling with sobs.

"She will," Laura stressed. "You'll see her soon, don't cry!" The seven year old girl was still light enough to pick up, so that's what Laura did. There was no need to push the distraught girl over the edge with the news that though her mother would be embracing her soon, Taylor never would again. There couldn't be much more delay of the inevitable, Haley needed Jenna. Trying not to think about Cassie in this position Laura held onto her best friend's daughter and let her cry.

**A / N My OC's are inspired by Clinn so after two OTH stories I finally got the inspiration for this. Hope everyone likes them! xx**


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